Our Research Lab

Lisa Cosgrove, PhD is a Clinical Psychologist, Professor, and Faculty Fellow at the Applied Ethics Center at the University of Massachusetts. She is a co-founder of the Centre for Mental Health, Human Rights and Social Justice. Her research addresses the ethical and medical-legal issues that arise in organized psychiatry because of academic-industry relationships.

Gianna D'Ambrozio (she/her) is a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Her research interests are in pediatric psychotropic polypharmacy and overprescribing psychotropic medications in marginalized and minoritized populations.

Farahdeba Herrawi (she/her) is a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Her research interests are immigrant health and human rights. 

Milutin Kostić, MD, PhD (he/him) is a psychiatrist from Serbia and the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship for the academic year of 2023-2024. Dr. Kostić's main research focus is overprescribing and medicalization of potentially normal human emotions.

Jenny (all pronouns) is Associate Faculty at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research and a Ph.D. student in law at Birkbeck College, University of London. Her transdisciplinary research brings together critical law, geography, and psychology to investigate the spatialisation of sexual violence in the contemporary United States. 

Lena Matković (she/her) is a psychiatric trainee at the Institute of Mental Health in Belgrade, and a Master's and PhD student at University of Belgrade, Serbia.  For the past two years, Lena has been involved in research on the meta-analysis of different pharmaceuticals, and has interests in social psychiatry, addiction, and overprescribing. 

Marija Milovanović (she/her) is a medical doctor working at the Institute of Mental Health in Belgrade, Serbia. She will begin her residency next year. In the fall of 2024, she started a Master's program in Bioethics. Her areas of interest include psychoses, social psychiatry, and civic engagement.  

Sarah Gurley-Green, PhD (she/her) is a researcher in health and death studies. She is the US Ambassador to the Association for the Study of Death and Society. After many years of teaching in health studies programs, Dr. Gurley-Green is taking time to research and pursue an LMHC at the University of Massachusetts Boston. 

Uroš Miladinović (he/him) is a PhD student and psychiatry resident at the Institute of Mental Health in Belgrade, Serbia. His areas of interest include reproductive psychiatry, affective disorders, and trauma-related mental health issues.  

Emilija Jankov (she/her) is a psychiatry resident and a trainee in group analysis with particular interest in personality organization, social determinants, and relational dimensions of mental health. She is especially attentive to medicalization of human experience and systemic inequalities within healthcare, reflected in her engagement in initiatives that promote more equitable and ethically grounded mental health care. Within the lab she seeks to contribute to research that critically bridges clinical practice and bioethics.

Kaila Pelton-Flavin (she/her) is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan. Her interests include human rights approaches to mental health and conceptions of psychotic experiences.

Tim McCarthy (he/him) is a Master's student in the Mental Health Counseling program at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. He serves as Director of Case Management and Director of Development for Craig’s Doors A Home Association Inc. His interests include alternative approaches to SUD & the bidirectional relationship between homelessness and mental illness.    

Edie Gobel (she/her) is an undergraduate at Arizona State University. Her research interests are human rights, ethical use of medical AI, and mental health.

Connor Sayle (he/him) has a bachelor's in neurobiology from UC Davis. He spent the last year at Stanford School of Medicine working on projects in population health, asian health, and medical humanities. His interests include critiquing the biomedical model that is deeply entrenched in psychiatry and psychology.

Sophie Pollack-Milgate (she) earned a bachelor's degree in Contemplative Studies in 2023. She works as a Research Associate in bioethics and has interests in the philosophy of psychiatry. 

Stella Straub (she/her) is a senior at Manchester-Essex Regional High School. Her interests include overprescription of psychiatric medications in elderly populations as well as policies and reform related to substance use disorder in the general public. 

Maeve Silman (she/her) recently graduated from Santa Clara University, where she earned a BS in Public Health Science. Currently working as a clinical assistant at Golden State Orthopedics and Spine, she is preparing to apply to medical school. Her interests include improving health outcomes by addressing the social determinants of health.

Alejandro Baez (he/him) is a researcher with interests in mental health and migrant health. He holds a Bachelors in Community Health and Clinical Psychology from Tufts University.

Ansah Akua Odea Dinah (she/her) is a Psychology graduate from the University of Ghana with an Upper Second Class Honors degree. She has experience as a Clinical Psychologist Assistant at Tema General hospital. Currently, she manages D-Natural Organic and Massaging Wellness center. Ansah is dedicated to helping others achieve emotional and psychological well-being.

James Scimeca (he/him) is a recent New York University graduate. His research interests include analyzing child and adolescent mental health through a human rights framework and exploring mental health solutions through public policy.

Vivien Huang (she/her) is an alumna of Washington University in St. Louis. An aspiring clinician and public health professional, she is passionate about healthcare equity and dismantling systems of oppression. Her research interests include school-based mental health, adolescent and pediatric mental health, and centering marginalized people’s lived experiences when studying mental health.

Irakli Begiashvili (he/him) is a Political Science student at Davidson College. He has served as a board member of a Political Engagement Club at Davidson. His interests include policymaking, sustainable development, and bioethics. Beyond that, Irakli has experience working at a mental health-oriented NGO in Indonesia and has been involved in establishing an artisan e-commerce platform for a refugee center in Malaysia.

Emma Barham (she/her) is currently pursuing her BA in Philosophy at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, with a focus on the philosophy of mind and mental health, bioethics, legal ethics, and the history of eugenics and mental health care. Her research interests are deeply connected to the ethics and history of mental health care systems, particularly in the context of New York City.

Fiona Wu (she/her) graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2024. Her research interests include commercial determinants of mental health— such as industry-academic relationships and the use of generative AI— and sociocultural determinants, including trauma, stigma, and policy contexts. 

Hailey Edgemond (she/her) is a practicing correctional counselor at the largest women’s reception center in the United States. Hailey is passionate about correctional counseling and innovations in treating individuals with severe psychiatric disorders. She will be applying to counseling psychology doctoral programs in 2026.

Kayla Vo (she/her) is a Biological Sciences and Global Public Health student at Binghamton University. Her research interests include sociocultural determinants of health and exploring the improvement of health outcomes through employing public health approaches.